Newcastle Jets claimed their first Australia Cup title after overcoming giant-slaying NPL VIC champions Heidelberg United 3-1 at the end of extra time in Saturday night’s entertaining final.

It was an historic night for the Jets, who ended their 17-year wait for silverware as they won a trophy for the first time since securing the 2008 Isuzu UTE A-League Championship while qualifying for the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two.

Young substitute Oscar Fryer set the stage for Newcastle to triumph in front of 10,000 fans at Lakeside Stadium, where the 19-year-old came off the bench and score a stunning solo goal in the sixth minute of extra time.

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Fellow substitute Ben Gibson sealed the win with five minutes remaining after Newcastle rallied from behind earlier in the first half – man-of-the-match and Mark Viduka Medallist Max Burgess cancelling out Heidelberg’s opener.

“It is a nice start, but as I said more, more importantly, for us, it’s a reward for the work that these boys have put in during preseason,” said Jets boss Mark Milligan after winning his maiden trophy in his first senior head coaching role.

“We’re trying to implement a new way of doing things. As I said, I ask a lot of them from a physical point of view from. A footballing point of view.

“It just helps me sort of with this process that we’re going through. I mean, make no mistake where I see us in future, we’re nowhere near that.”

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Milligan’s tenure is in its infancy after replacing Rob Stanton heading into 2025-26 but the Jets’ new era under the A-Leagues great is continuing to take shape.

Saturday night was Newcastle’s first ever Australia Cup final and it was met with a strong travelling contingent of Jets supporters in Melbourne.

The Jets have not reached the Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series since losing the 2017-18 Grand Final but Newcastle are moving in the right direction under the A-Leagues and Socceroos great as they turn their attention to an F3 Derby against rivals Central Coast Mariners in Round 1 on October 19.

Newcastle can also look forward to continental football in 2026-27 thanks to their Australia Cup success.

With ACL Two qualification comes a lucrative payday. Newcastle could pocket $300,000 USD – which equates to around AUD $450,000 for just qualifying for the group stages, like Sydney FC and Macarthur Bulls have netted previously. Winning the entire competition could result in a windfall of AUD $4.92million.

“For me, it’s for the fans,” said Milligan. “They’ve waited a long time for silverware, waited a long time to be in finals. It’s never easy. It’s extremely difficult to make finals. There’s players, fantastic players, that go through their careers without making a final.

“We’ve spoken a lot since I’ve come in that we want the support of the fans, but we have to show [them] who we are. We have to show every day who we are, show every game who we are and what we’re becoming. It’s up to us to repay them, and this is just the start of that.”